Aim and Purpose

About a century ago, the theory of quantum mechanics was born. By virtue of its extraordinary explanatory power this theory has not only dramatically changed to the way we see the world, but also led to a first quantum revolution that has brought us groundbreaking new technologies such as the transistor, solid-state lighting, lasers, and GPS.

Electrometry is performed using Rydberg states to evaluate the quadratic Stark shift of the 5s2 1S0-5s5p 3P0 clock transition in strontium. By measuring the Stark shift of the highly excited 5s75d 1D2 state using electromagnetically induced transparency, we characterize the electric field with sufficient precision to provide tight constraints on the systematic shift to the clock transition.